Although it sounds complicated, it is really easy to Add both Wired and Network Printers to Mac. You will find below the steps to Add Printer to Mac.
Add Printer to Mac
Printers can be connected to Mac using USB cable, WiFi Modem/Router, Apple Time Capsule, or AirPlay and the process of adding printer to Mac varies a bit, depending on how the printer is connected to Mac.
Luckily, Mac supports a wide variety of printers and Adding printer to Mac in most cases is fairly straight forward process.
1. Add USB Printer to Mac
Follow the steps below to Add a USB connected printer to Mac.
1. Connect the Printer to Power Supply and switch ON the printer by pressing the Power button.
2. Next, connect the Printer to USB port of your Mac using its supplied USB cable.
3. Click on the Apple Logo in top menu bar and click on System Preferences in the drop-down menu.
4. On the System Preferences screen, click on Printers and Scanners icon.
5. On the next screen, click on the Lock icon and enter your Admin User Name and password. Next, click on the Plus Icon to open Add Printer dialogue box.
6. On the next screen, click on Default tab and then select your Printer by clicking on it.
Click on the Add button to Add the selected printer to your Mac.
2. Add Network or Wireless Printer to Mac Using IP Address
In order to Add a Wireless Printer to Mac, you need to know the IP or DNS address of the Printer.
In case of most modern printers, you can get the IP Address from the display, while the printer is Powering ON or by pressing and holding the “Go button” for 15 seconds.
Get the IP address of your printer from its display or using guidelines as provided by your manufacturer and follow the steps below.
1. Click on Apple Logo > System Preferences.
2. On System Preferences screen, click on Printers and Scanners icon.
3. On the next screen, click on the Lock icon and enter your Admin User Name and password. Next, click on the Plus Icon to bring up Add Printer dialogue box.
4. On the next screen, click on the IP tab and enter the IP Address of your Printer.
In the Address Bar, type the IP Address, Protocol will be automatically selected and you can leave the Queue box blank.
In the next section, you can go with the default name or enter a Name for your Printer.
Location section can be left blank and in the “Use” section you can go with Generic PCL or Generic Post Script Driver, unless you have a different driver file that you want to use.
5. After filling the information as required, click on the Add button.
3. Add Printer to Mac Using Print Command
Instead of going to System Preferences, you can Add Printer to Mac during the print command itself.
1. Try to Print a Word, PDF or any other document on your Mac.
2. On the Print screen, click on the down Arrow next to “No Printer Selected” error message and click on Add Printer option in the drop-down.
3. On the next screen, select your Printer and click on the Add button.
In case of a Network or Wireless Printer, you can Add Printer to Mac using the 2nd method as provided above.
